Blogcritics On Halloween 2004

Halloween has crept up upon us on little black cat’s feet once again. We went crazy-go-nuts with the Halloween stories and decorations last year (over 70 posts – check it out, IF YOU DARE!), but this year we are haunted by the Ghost of Election Present and All Hallow’s Eve has been shunted aside a bit.

But with that caveat stated, we are still ghoulishly gathering together stories, reviews, news and the all-important whatnot to get you in the frightful right spirit. BOO!

A Savage Halloween
Teresa, below, has unwittingly chosen a famous enlistee in the U.S. Army, Pfc. Lynndie England, as her role model.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 09:31 PM

Day of the Dead, all week
If you can’t hire this band for your party tonight, at least get them for the Day of the Dead. Aye Carumba, as Bart Simpson would say. Or “Queviva la muerte” as their banner says, all the way from…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 06:46 PM

Elvira – It’s Her Time of Year
It’s hard not to love the longevity, attitude, verve, humor, and physical attributes of Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a., Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Beginning as a local horror movie hostess on KHJ in Los Angeles in 1981, she has gone on…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 02:44 PM

Tremors DVD Review
I’m not sure why people choose to live in small towns. Don’t they know that eventually a monster is going to come in and ruin everything? Sure, the big cities have their own set of creatures to deal with, but…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 05:32 AM

Critters 4 DVD review
“Every movie series that begins in space must end in space.” That was written by, uh, well me. But let’s face it; if your monster comes from space, you surely have to realize that they’re going to send them back…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 05:27 AM

Critters 3 DVD Review
With an obviously reduced budget, “Critters 3” goes farther downhill with every passing minute. It lacks charm, humor, continuity, and decent acting. Oh, and it stars a very young Leonardo DiCaprio. That makes five strikes. A father of two makes…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 31, 2004 05:16 AM

EXORCIST THE MUSICAL – UNCOVERED AT LAST
As an ultra-special Halloween treat, prepare to be dazzled to the soul!
Posted in Blogcritics on October 30, 2004 10:16 AM

Temporary Halloween Stores a Trend
A few weeks ago Instapundit asked the question: “Is it just me, or are people making a bigger deal out of Halloween than they used to?” No, it’s not just a law professor in Tennessee noticing Halloween. It’s happening all…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 30, 2004 10:16 AM

A brief history of All Souls Day | Halloween
The history of Halloween is a long and complicated one, and I will attempt to put it together for us here so that we may come upon this Halloween or All Souls Day with a renewed perspective and respect…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 11:21 AM

Critters 2 DVD review
Not every movie has to be original. There’s nothing wrong with taking a standard formula and having fun with it. The sequel to the surprisingly successful “Critters” is one of those movies. Who says hand puppets can’t star in a…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 01:58 AM

Critters DVD Review
After “Gremlins” pulled in some insane box office numbers, it’s no surprise that multiple knock-offs were soon to follow. “Critters” is probably the best, not only giving New Line a nice return on their investment, but also spawning three sequels…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 01:22 AM

Eight 1950’s Monster DVD Reviews
It was an era of radioactivity as monsters both big and small made their way upon our screens. Now we have arrived in a new millennium and these classic creatures from the 1950’s have gone digital on DVD. Conveniently in…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 12:51 AM

Army of Darkness Boomstick Edition DVD Review
The “Evil Dead” series is an odd little footnote in movie history. With each subsequent film, director Sam Raimi changed the tone completely until we ended up here with “Army Of Darkness,” one those dark comedies that’s garnered a massive…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 12:29 AM

Ghostbusters 2 DVD Review
It took five years for the sequel to one of 1984’s biggest hits to finally get a sequel. Almost everyone returned for the second half of “Ghostbusters” and surprisingly, most of what made the first so enjoyable returns. It’s not…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 29, 2004 12:20 AM

Evolution DVD Review
Some movies are an unqualified success. Others try to make themselves out to be. Take “Evolution,” Ivan Reitman’s first foray into sci-fi comedy since “Ghostbusters II.” It’s a fairly standard and predictable summer movie, yet it spawned a short-lived cartoon…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 11:21 PM

Men In Black II DVD Review
Okay, I doubt anyone went into “Men In Black II” expecting it to be funnier than the original. It’s a sequel. If you thought otherwise, you should know better. What I know is that not a single person expected to…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 11:07 PM

Men In Black Limited Edition DVD Review
I really don’t know many people. I’m just not a very big people person. Even in that small group I do hold close, I suspect three of them were not original occupants of this planet. In fact, one of them…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 10:52 PM

Short Story: Welcome to the Pack
Herbert wasn’t looking for problems when he stumbled into this one. He was walking home from his last day as a researcher in Parliament. An hour before he had walked into his boss’s office and proceeded to get himself fired….
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 10:07 PM

Movie Review: The Grudge
I first heard about Ju-On: The Grudge about a year or so ago. It was about the same time that I was really starting to get into Asian cinema. The most original horror films were starting to filter out, films…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 07:35 PM

Be Really Scary This Halloween
This Halloween, don’t dress up as a corny old witch or demon, do something really scary. Dress up as a Diebold Voting Machine! Give Democrats in your neighborhood the chills with this adorable re-creation of a computerized, touch-screen voting machine!…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 06:40 PM

B-Movie Hall Of Fame Inductees 2004 Announced!
A host of geniuses and classic works of glory make the prestigious list!
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 01:24 PM

Halloween Cats
We have two cats although I am so not a cat person – in fact no one in the family is really a cat person, so it’s a good thing there are two of them: they keep each other…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 09:40 AM

Halloween banned…
The humourless kill-joys that are the PC police have banned Halloween in an entire town in Washington State. They have banned it because it might offend wiccans. Funny thing is, Fox news can’t find any witches who are offended….
Posted in Blogcritics on October 28, 2004 07:00 AM

My Halloween Reading List
It’s a crisp, moonlit October night. Outside, a wind stirs the skeleton shapes of leafless trees and a black cat hurries home after the evening’s hunt. Inside, you’re curled up in your favorite chair by the hearth, a blanket on…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 27, 2004 10:56 PM

Halloween Hooey
As a southern hemisphere dweller previously unfamiliar with Halloween (except for those specials on Roseanne), I have to admit that Halloween seems a particularly bizarro kind of festival. On October 31st, a zillion kids get dressed up in ghoul costumes…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 27, 2004 05:45 PM

Teasing Secrets from the Dead
The memoir of a noted forensic anthropologist explores the many gruesome details of an eerily fascinating profession.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 27, 2004 04:49 PM

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” – Another Review
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown first aired in 1966, and, to quote Linus, it’s still “nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.”
Posted in Blogcritics on October 27, 2004 04:45 PM

For Halloween: The Rich and the Dead, and Vice Versa
It takes a special kind of star to remain in the limelight after passing to the Great Beyond, and Elvis is still the King when it comes to generating big bucks from the grave. While moldering for 27 years…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 26, 2004 08:15 PM

DVD Review: Friday the 13th:From Crystal Lake to Manhattan
What follows is a brief look at each of the disks in the recently released Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan box set. Warning, some may contain spoilers. Disk 1: Friday the 13th. It has been a long…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 26, 2004 07:47 PM

John Carpenter’s The Thing
This is one of those slightly strange films; I’d guess that many, many more people have heard of it than have actually seen it, which is a damn shame
Posted in Blogcritics on October 26, 2004 02:38 PM

Hell House: A Halloween Nightmare
A spooky road on the outskirts of what might be Burleson, Texas. A large white building. A tall steeple. A crowd of squeaky-clean teenagers wearing “Creed” t-shirts… I have the feeling I’m about to be sacred straight.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 26, 2004 07:46 AM

DVD Releases For Tuesday October 26th
Thanks to the miracle of DVD, you’ve no excuse not to have plenty of Killer Nuns and Bloody Judges in time for Halloween.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 26, 2004 06:54 AM

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown originally aired all the way back in 1966 and is second only to the sainted Christmas pageant in Charles M. Schultz’s great seasonal Peanuts pantheon. Though its appeal is timeless, you also wouldn’t mistake…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 09:40 PM

Remix the Undead
In the spirit of Halloween, FreeCulture has a remix contest to literally raise the (video) dead: What the hell? Ever wanted to bring something back from the dead? Well, you still can’t revive old Fido, but you can bring…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 03:15 PM

The Duke Presents “Fifteen Filthy Facts About The Paranormal!”
As Halloween approaches, The Duke invites you to the underworld of genuine factual accuracy.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 09:11 AM

“From Hell” – Review
From Hell ends up being just another fill-in-the-blank Ashley Judd-esque disappointment – fun to look at, but hard to watch.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 06:34 AM

“Lady Death” – Review
“Abandon all hope ye who enter here” indeed.
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 06:27 AM

Scary Movie 3
While the film does have a disjointed feel and its share of dud gags, Scary Movie 3 had me laughing…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 25, 2004 01:50 AM

Movie Review: The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar
Not since The Ring – a movie that can definitely be called a kissin’ cousin to The Grudge – have I been so thoroughly spooked by a movie. (As an aside – before The Ring the creepiest, most chilling movie…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 24, 2004 12:51 AM

Gremlins DVD Review
Every movie has rules. These are generally included to tell you what you need to believe in order to suspend disbelief and enjoy the movie. “Gremlins” probably has one of the more memorable rule sets in movie history and even…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 23, 2004 11:55 PM

Dead of Night
Although Dead of Night has a strong linking narrative, it’s actually an anthology of five unconnected ghost stories (of varying quality). Mervyn (Walter Craig) arrives at a country estate and meets a group of people for the first time…except he’s…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 23, 2004 10:41 AM

The Haunted Mansion
When I first heard that a movie was being made out of Disney’s Haunted Mansion I have to admit I was intrigued, but when I heard that it was going to be a comedy with Eddie Murphy my heart sank….
Posted in Blogcritics on October 22, 2004 12:37 AM

The Haunting (1963)
Some houses may be “born bad” but it takes a lot of restraint and skill to make a movie this…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 20, 2004 08:52 PM

Horrible Horrors, Volume One
“The horror!” Rhino releases two sets of thoroughly cheesy horrorflix. . .
Posted in Blogcritics on October 20, 2004 09:46 AM

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee XBox Review
This was the 3rd Godzilla game released within one years time. That’s a lot of Godzilla, especially for an American audience. Thankfully, these have been some of the best games ever featuring the saurian and now that he’s gone multi-platform,…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 14, 2004 10:53 PM

Premature Burial
In the Presence of the Conqueror Worm – with Ray Milland…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 14, 2004 02:58 PM

CHENEY CLAIMS “DEAD WILL RISE” IF BUSH WINS SECOND TERM.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO–In an obvious effort to out-hype Senator John Edwards, who Wednesday claimed that if John Kerry wins the election, crippled people like Christopher Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again, Vice President Cheney today claimed…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 14, 2004 11:03 AM

Book Review: Lost Souls, by Poppy Z. Brite
It’s been at least 10 years since Poppy Z. Brite’s novel Lost Souls hit the presses, so any review written now feels belated – however if it brings a few more people to the grotesque groaning table of delights Poppy…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 13, 2004 02:41 PM

The Duke Catches “Terminal Invasion”
Another classic in The Cinema Of Bruce Campbell, this time with added Aliens
Posted in Blogcritics on October 11, 2004 01:57 PM

Godzilla 2000 DVD Review
After the outright disaster that was the American version of Godzilla, Toho studios decided to resurrect their own and try to salvage the franchise. This new film, “Godzilla 2000,” would become a movie of firsts for the series. It’s not…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 10, 2004 11:52 PM

Sci-Fi Pictures Frankenfish Review
Every generation needs a giant snakehead fish movie. Luckily, we’ll go down as the first. In fact, we now have the good fortune to receive two snakehead fish movies in as many months. Fresh off of the “Snakehead Terror,” Sci-Fi…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 10, 2004 08:34 PM

Costume Time Again
What’s your favorite Halloween costume? I won a large costume contest in my early-20s as a urinal – as the night proceeded and the drinking accumulated, I had to be vigilant against the easily deceived. The most intricate, colorful and…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 7, 2004 10:47 AM

Blood Feast
For October: revisiting 1963’s landmark “appalling” gore/horror flick. . .
Posted in Blogcritics on October 4, 2004 05:18 PM

Janet Leigh Dies at 77
Exceptional actress best known for the black and white trilogy Psycho, Touch of Evil, and The Manchurian Candidate, extraordinary beauty, and the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh died Sunday at her home in Beverly Hills at 77….
Posted in Blogcritics on October 4, 2004 01:34 PM

Sean Stewart – Perfect Circle
The short version is this: Sean Stewart’s Perfect Circle is a masterpiece. It’s a moody, compelling ghost story that manages dark humor, chills, and sadness all in a fairly compact 243 pages. The long version is a bit more complicated….
Posted in Blogcritics on October 4, 2004 01:53 AM

Hollywood Hell House: Carny-ization of Fundamentalists
Hollywood Hell House at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood is part parody and part carny show. Being religious isn’t particularly hip in Hollywood or most of liberal California. So as one might expect during the short 40-minutes which costs…
Posted in Blogcritics on October 3, 2004 01:47 PM

Movie Review: Shaun of the Dead
The first time I had heard about Shaun of the Dead was earlier this year at Ain’t it Cool News. I remember reading the descriptions and seeing the early trailers and thinking how good it looked. I also remember thinking…
Posted in Blogcritics on September 30, 2004 09:17 PM

Godzilla (1998) DVD Review
It obviously wasn’t enough for Hollywood to ruin on of its own. After the mid-70’s slaughter of “King Kong,” eyes turned to Japan and the “Godzilla” series. Numerous scripts, directors, and writers tackled the subject throughout the 80’s and early…
Posted in Blogcritics on September 30, 2004 07:10 PM